Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
It’s not as though Game of Thrones hasn’t made significant alterations to the books over its first four seasons, but often those changes paled compared to the impressive faithfulness the show had to the source material. For the most part, the adaptation process meant making two characters one, switching the order of some events, or simply cutting away a lot of the fat in Martin’s sprawling narrative.
For a long time, only a purist could be upset at the concessions made in bringing Game of Thrones to TV. Anyone furious at minor changes, like a third-tier character being killed by neck-snapping instead of having his limbs force-fed to him, could always go back to the books (though hopefully after seeing a shrink first, in that particular case).
But the introduction of the mysterious White Walker leader mid-way through Season 4, and absence of another key figure at season’s end are nothing compared to some of the major divergences Season 5 makes from the source material. For the most part, the plot-rejiggering was done to make sure we wound up at the same place as the books, just faster or more sensibly. By episode two, Season 5 has introduced three new plotlines (and one incredible new pairing) to the story, one of which might actually be from a future installment of the books. For readers, that means spoilers are back on the menu. It’s an exciting prospect…assuming you didn’t make any enemies in the last four years of lording your future knowledge of events over people.